


Your Melodies Make Me Smile

by ArataDarling



Series: The 30 Day Marble Hornets Challenge [1]
Category: Marble Hornets
Genre: Cute, Depression, Fluff, Happy Ending, Hotels, Hugs, M/M, Music, Singing, Ukulele
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-08-02
Updated: 2015-08-02
Packaged: 2018-04-12 13:24:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,369
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4480883
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ArataDarling/pseuds/ArataDarling
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Jay has been gone for a while. Tim plays the ukulele as a way to not think about Jay. When Jay finally comes home, he hears Tim playing and recognizes the tune.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Your Melodies Make Me Smile

**Author's Note:**

> This is part of a series I'm writing called "The 30 Day Marble Hornets Challenge". Basically, I'm writing a MH one shot every day for 30 days.  
> Enjoy!

Tim slowly brought his fingers down on the strings of the ukulele, naturally playing chords as if he had been doing this his whole life. Up and down, up and down. He kept strumming until his fingers began to ache, yet he still played on. This had been his go-to song whenever Jay had left. He had never been gone for this long, though.

Thoughts began to race through Tim's head, asking himself questions far too quickly to receive any answers. Where was Jay? Why did he leave in the first place? How long had he even been gone? Why did Tim miss him so much? What if he was hurt, or even worse... dead?

He tried to push back these emotions, but to no luck. He felt a single stream of warm tears trail down his cheek, dripping off his face and onto his hand, which was still strumming away. He felt tears begin to form, but he instantly held them back. There was no way he was going to cry over something so stupid as this. When Jay had left before, he didn't care. He would just do whatever he usually would, and Jay made no difference, whether he was there or not. But this time he was worried.

It wasn't like Jay had been gone for too long. It had been 4 days at most. He had practically lost track of the time, he had been strumming away at his ukulele the whole time, only stopping to sleep or eat, and occasionally look through a tape or two, though it was rare. The tapes that he watched reminded him of Jay. No matter if he was featured in the recordings or not, Tim had still felt his presence while blankly staring at the screen. He hadn't even taken notes on anything strange or unnerving that happened. He just... stared. It was almost as if his entire being was absorbed into the small screen, only being let out once the power button was pressed.

He wasn't entirely sure why he watched those tapes. He definitely didn't know as much about computers as Jay did. Hell, he didn't even own a computer before all of... this.

But... that's enough about that. Tim focused on the instrument in his hands, letting all of his doubts and worries flow away with the music. Jay would be back soon, he knew it.

~

Jay slowly entered the door of the dingy hotel. He was tired and hadn't slept in days. He had stayed in a hotel one of the days he was out, but wasted so much of his time worrying that he hadn't gotten much sleep. Over the course of 4 days, he had gotten 8 hours of sleep, at most.

He took the elevator up, closing his eyes and feeling like he could fall asleep on the spot, even while standing up. Walking up to the room that he shared with Tim, he swiped the key card and swung open the door, surprised to hear the melodic sound of Tim's ukulele. It seemed to be a song that he faintly recognized. It seemed so familiar, yet he couldn't grasp the thought. After things started to go the way they were, Jay had stopped listening to music and stopped going online, unless it was to get on YouTube to check the latest totheark video.

He stood by the wall that separated himself from Tim. He sat and listened for as long as he could. He did nothing but sit and listen to the song, trying so hard to remember it. He knew that he knew the melody, at least. The melody was right in the back of his mind, and he couldn't fucking remember remember it. It brought a whole new level of frustration to him, one that was quite possibly worse that not being able to figure out a totheark code. It was a feeling worse than attempting to track down Alex and that thing.

Tim began to hum, and that's when it came to him. Jay was finally able to remember the song. Hearing only the melody brought back so many memories for him, so many that he didn't want to have. He pushed them away, promising himself that he would never dwell on them, or even think about them for a second.

Jay sat there, head resting against the wall, eyes closed. He was peaceful. The tiredness wasn't as bad as it was before. He wasn't in pain. He didn't feel like he could lose consciousness at any moment.

He began to hum along with Tim, very quietly, as to make sure that he wouldn't be heard. He felt so bad for avoiding him, but he couldn't help it. The way the music flowed together... he never wanted it to end.

"Hey there, Delilah," he sang quietly, letting the words slip out of his mouth, though that wasn't what he had intended. "What's it like in New York City? I'm a thousand miles away, but girl, tonight you look so pretty, yes you do. Times Square can't shine as bright you... you know it's true." Jay kept his eyes closed and let the lyrics flow. It had been so long since he had sang, especially with someone else in the room. Actually, he had never sang with anyone else in the room. Except for when he was a toddler or had a few drinks too many. He soon wondered why he hadn't. His voice didn't sound too bad, and he liked singing. It felt natural to him.

~

Tim heard the faint sound of another voice, singing along to the chords he had been playing. He lowered the volume of his playing, only to hear the voice keep singing. As he listened more closely, he recognized the voice, but couldn't quite put together the puzzle pieces in his mind to come to a conclusion on who it was.

He stopped playing altogether, and the voice kept going.

"Oh, it what you do to me. Oh, it's what you do to me..."

The voice kept on going, even after the guitar had stopped. Tim slowly stood up, making sure to make as little noise as possible. He had no idea who this person was. It could've been Alex, for all he knew. Why they were singing, though, he had no idea.

He look around the corner, shocked to see Jay, eyes closed, singing like an angel. He stood and watched, letting a smile spread across his face. He felt lighter for it. Much lighter. It had been so long since he had smiled genuinely. Not in a sarcastic or humorless way. This was a genuine fucking smile, and it felt good.

Jay stopped singing and opened his eyes. He stared at the wall in front of him for a short while, not even noticing the presence of Tim, who was still smiling. He looked over and jumped, his face instantly glowing a bright red, which only made Tim let out a quiet laugh.

"You didn't... hear me, did you?" Jay asked nervously, gripping his wrist tightly with his hand.

"I heard you," Tim said as he looked Jay in the eyes. He could tell that he was scared, way too scared. "You're voice is beautiful. I don't know why you don't sing more often." Jay blushed at this. He wasn't used to compliments, especially not from Tim. In fact, Tim was the last person that he would have expected to say something like that to him.

Moments of awkward silence passed, both of them staring at the floor or occasionally glancing up at the ceiling. Tim suddenly pulled Jay in for a hug. He held on, never wanting to let go. Jay just stood there, unsure of what to do. This was _definitely_ out of character for Tim, no doubt.

"T-Tim, what are you-"

_"Don't ever leave again,"_ he whispered. Jay's face began to heat up. He looked in the mirror on the other side of the room and noticed that his face was bright red. He closed his eyes, avoiding looking at himself right now.

He pulled Tim closer, promising something that meant the world to Tim.

"I won't."


End file.
